Colorado Rent Will Continue to Rise

The apartment market was robust in the latter part of 2013, with vacancy rates hovering around 13-year lows and rents rising despite a resumption in multifamily construction. Builders delivered 5,560 new apartments in 2013, far above the 2,170 delivered in 2012.

Average asking rent jumped 6.6 percent year over year, to $1,115 per month. The Aurora/south area showed the biggest rent growth at 7.2 percent, while central Denver posted the highest average rent at $1,527 monthly. Douglas County had the lowest vacancy rate at 3.7 percent.

Because of this, rent in metro Denver is expected to grow 4.9 percent by the end of 2014, to $1,527 monthly. Douglas County had the lowest vacancy rate at 3.7 percent.

The good news about rent rising is that it means more young people are continuing to enter the market, and that much of the continuous increase of rent is driven by employment. Vacancy tends to increase with joblessness and as it has always been, housing follows jobs. As a result, we will be watching the employment numbers as they roll in.